Tibetan Snow Lotus struggles to survive

tibetan snow lotus of love
Medicinal uses for the flower range from rheumatism to what’s called “women’s diseases.” And it’s highly sought after by tourists as a symbol of the region, and a memento of their visit.

In an accelerated version of natural selection, harvesters take the biggest blossoms they can find and leave the smaller ones. Those smaller plants are the only ones left to sew their seeds. Traditional Tibetan medicine practitioners harvested only what they needed — the pressure of the growing world market threatens to wipe the species out.